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Post & Courier (Charleston, SC)

Moncks Corner residents are supporting the town's initiative to bring a Miracle League Field to the Regional Recreation Complex.

Freedom Church, located at 1425 Cypress Gardens Road, has donated $4,000 to support the completion of the first Miracle League in Berkeley County. The specially designed baseball field will provide opportunities for children of all children to play regardless of their abilities.

Mayor Michael Lockliear said there are over 4,400 special needs students in the Berkeley County School District who currently have to leave the county to play an organized sport.

"That is why this has been an important goal of mine for so long and why it's great to see people in our community coming together to make it happen," Lockliear said. Thank you Freedom Church for opening up your hearts and being the first to step up for this worthy cause. You can't even imagine how far your donation is going to go," Lockliear said.

Shawn Wood, pastor of Freedom Church, said when the church started in 2011, it wanted to be a church "marked by our generosity."

"Over the past seven years, we have strived to faithfully serve our community in tangible ways," Wood said. "Today, we are honored to be able to once again partner with the Town of Moncks Corner by making our first investment into the Miracle League Field. This field will bring our community closer together and we're looking forward to the impact it will make on Berkeley County and in the lives of those with special needs."

The design of the project is currently underway. Following design, the Town will move forward with construction, estimated at $1.2 million. The Miracle League field itself is Phase 1 of the project. Phase 2 is an all-inclusive playground estimated at $730,000.

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The Tampa Bay Rays are renovating Tropicana Field for the second time in as many years, reducing the stadium's capacity from 31,042 to between 25,000 and 26,000.

Coming off a 2018 season in which the team won 90 games but drew Major League Baseball's second-worst home attendance average (14,258), the Rays are hoping to improve the atmosphere at the Trop while they continue to seek a brand-new facility. Owned by former Goldman Sachs partner Stuart Sternberg, the Rays since 2005 have invested more than $50 million in renovations of the building, which debuted in 1990. As reported by Bloomberg, the current renovation will close the upper deck and open up premium seating in lower left field.

"These renovations mark our continued commitment to providing a first-rate fan experience at Tropicana Field," Rays president Matt Silverman said, as reported by MLB.com. "Together, in concert with the reduction in seating capacity, these investments will help create a more intimate, entertaining and appealing experience for our fans."

● Offering more social gathering spaces with the creation of a new common area, the Left Field Ledge.● Redesigning and enhancing two primary fan entrances (Gate 4 and 5) to improve the flow of fans through increased access points and wayfinding features.● Exchanging the current turf for a new Shaw Sports Turf product, designed to withstand the myriad events held at Tropicana Field throughout the year.● Adding access from the Budweiser Porch and Ballpark & Rec areas to the Outfielder bar behind center field, as well as creating an external entrance to the food and beverage space.● Redoubling the organization's commitment to sustainable energy practices by replacing the existing field lights with energy-efficient LED lights, improving overall on-field playability and entertainment lighting throughout the ballpark.● Elimination of the upper deck, which reconfigures the ballpark seating areas to include the first, mezzanine and second seating levels, as well as the new GTE Financial Party Deck. This will bring all fans closer to the field of play.